Sonia Manzano: From Actress to Author by way of Sesame Street

A native of the South Bronx, actress Sonia Manzano grew up visiting her family in New York City’s El Barrio neighborhood and auditioning for Broadway and beyond.

You may know her best as “Maria” on “Sesame Street” but Manzano is now an author.  Host Rafael Pi Roman talks with her in studio about her book for young adults “The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano,” life in El Barrio in the 1960′s and 70′s, and her writing and acting career on “Sesame Street.”

She recently won the 2013 Pura Belpré Award, which recognizes a Latino or Latina author whose work portrays and celebrates the Latino cultural experience.

Manzano told Pi Roman that it’s not an autobiographical novel. “I’m not Evelyn. I have a cousin named Evelyn who lived in El Barrio with my grandmother, so I was able to go to El Barrio when I was a kid and El Barrio was really a mess [... ]but it was also an exciting place.”